Knights of Columbus

The “Strong Right Arm of the Church,”The Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded by Father Michael J. McGivney[1] in New Haven, Connecticut in 1882, it was named after Christopher Columbus. Father McGivney originally conceived the Knights as a mutual benefit society to help fill the needs of immigrants and families after the death of a breadwinner. From this origin the Knights grew into a mutual benefit organization dedicated to providing charitable services, promoting Catholic education and Catholic public policy decisions, and actively defending Catholicism in various nations.

Father Michael McGivney

​​As of 2015 there were 1,883,598 members in nearly 15,000 councils with 302 councils on college campuses. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men age 18 or older. Membership consists of four degrees, each exemplifying a different principle of an order. ​

Father McGivney’s mutual benefit society has grown into one of the most highly rated insurance and financial benefit programs. At the end of 2015 the Knights surpassed $100 Billion of insurance in force and managed $22 Billion in assets. In 2015 alone, they distributed $875 Million to members. And they have 2 Million contracts in force. Despite the challenging economic climate, The Knights of Columbus has experienced 15 consecutive years of sales growth. A Knights of Columbus Financial representative can offer members a wide variety of insurance and financial planning products[2].

The Knights of Columbus follow four core principles: Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. Adherence to these principals has resulted in the Knights becoming a formidable force in Christian philanthropy, brotherhood and support of the Catholic Church:

In 2015 the Knights donated $170 Million directly to charity and performed over 70 million hours of volunteer service. The national order has supported disaster relief, disabled programs, blood drives, Habitat for Humanity, and global Catholic charities to name a few causes. Total philanthropic effort from the Knights, over a 10 year period, averaged more than $1 Billion per year.

The Knights have been called upon during their history to defend the church and themselves against persecution. For example, during the early 20th century the Ku Klux Klan launched a hate campaign against the church and the Knights. The Knights responded with a national movement to identify persecutors and respond with legal action. The Klan grew silent. The Knights have become active in promoting awareness of the Christian persecution by ISIS. Ongoing support of the Church as well as philanthropic efforts prompted Pope John Paul II to refer to the Knights of Columbus as a “strong right arm of the Church.”

When Catholic men join the brotherhood of the Knights of Columbus, they place themselves in very good company.

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Council 760 St. Paul, Walnut, Erie.Knights of Columbus Council 760 is proud to represent the richest Catholic historical heritage in southern Kansas and the four-state region. Council 760 was founded on April 26, 1903, fifty-six years after the Jesuits and Sisters of Loretto founded the Catholic Osage Mission. On the date of our founding, a special train brought a large delegation of brother Knights from Parsons to help institute our council with a program and a Solemn High Mass celebrated by Rev. Father Huber. Three months later a delegation of our Knights passed the favor to Fort Scott by assisting with institution of their Council. Thus the brotherhood of the Knights helped propagate what was still a relatively new organization.

Council 760 members continue to live and promote the mission of Father Michael McGivney. During a typical business year we:

Sponsor about eight benefit breakfasts to assist local families in need or youth programs

Sponsor one breakfast to kick off our spring community celebration

Organize Lenten fish-fry’s for community fellowship and to raise money for our other projects.

Sponsor a fall Smoked Ribs project to raise money for community and church support.

Make solicited and unsolicited donations to local people in need; also school and 4H projects.

Provide financial and personal assistance to Pro-Life programs.

Sponsor area seminary students

Organize, promote and conduct youth and young adult programs such as Punt-Pass-Kick, Free-Throw Contests and Holiday Food Baskets and the Church Garden Rosary & Ice Cream socials.

Provide financial assistance for our local TEC candidates.

Becoming a Knight brings many of the benefits of a financially strong, world-wide fraternal organization. Being a Council 760 Knight includes some more personal benefits—Pride and Personal Satisfaction! Our council is deeply rooted in the oldest Catholic history of our region; and we make important contributions to our church and our area community. As a brotherhood, we enjoy having a good time in our work and social activities. Any young, practicing Catholic man would do well to consider Knighthood. We would love to sign up some of the older men too!​

Our Organization:Knights of Columbus Council 760 membership includes Knights from St. Francis Catholic Church, St. Paul, St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Erie and several members from St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Walnut, Kansas (closed). We also have members from other area communities including Galesburg.

Our Most Esteemed Knight.Along with our Catholic heritage, we are also very proud of a founding Council 760 Knight. Our first Lecturer, William Whites Graves, distinguished himself, our council and community with a life dedicated to telling the story of the Catholic Church in our region.

​Born in Kentucky, Graves’ parents moved to Osage Mission in 1881 when William was nine years old. The things he witnessed and the people he met here during the next 10-15 years left a defining impression on his life. He met and worked for some of the original Osage Mission missionaries; he watched the Jesuit and Loretto boarding schools grow and flourish. He was educated in the Jesuit school, St. Francis Institute. He also saw a town that didn’t exist fourteen years before his arrival grow into a robust Catholic Community. Then he saw the Jesuit and Loretto schools fail and our founding missionaries depart.

W.W. Graves grew up to be a businessman, Journalist, historian, writer and publisher. The fact that he built a very modern publishing business, The Journal Press, supported his passion for history and writing. During his career he published countless books, pamphlets and pocket guides. But the books he wrote about the earliest church history in Kansas propelled him to notoriety (copyright dates in parenthesis):

Life and Letters of Fathers Ponziglione, Schoenmakers and Other Early Jesuits at Osage Mission (1916)

Life and Letters of Rev. Father John Schoenmakers, S.J., Apostle to the Osages (1928)

Annals of Osage Mission (1934)

The Broken Treaty: A Story of Osage Country (1935)

The Legend of Greenbush: The Story of a Pioneer Country Church (1937)

The Poet Priest of Kansas: Father Thomas Aloysius McKiernan (1937)

The Life and Times of Mother Bridget Hayden (1938)

History of the Kickapoo Mission and Parish – The First Catholic Church in Kansas (Jointly published Rev, Gilbert J. Garraghan and Rev, George Towle – 1938)

Annals of St. Paul: A Third of a Century, From the Name Change in 1895 to 1829 (1942)

The History of Neosho County, Volumes I & II, 1,141 pages (1949 and 1951)

Annals of St. Paul: Supplement, January 1929 to June 1936 (never completed)

Antecedents fo Osage Mission Kansas by Rev. Paul M. Ponziglione (published but not written by Graves)

In addition to the above books Graves also:

Published the Kansas Knights of Columbus newspaper “The Kansas Knight” from 1921 to 1938.

Co-founded and served as president of the original Neosho County Historical Society, Chanute, in June of 1930.

Served as a founding officer of the Kansas Catholic Historical Society in 1930. He served in positons of Secretary, Vice-President and President.

Published many papers which were submitted to the Kansas State Historical Society. His works are also held by the Missouri State Historical Society.

Led a council effort to commission a portrait of Fr. Paul Ponziglione. The painting was then donated to the Kansas State Historical Society to preserve the memory the legendary Osage Mission missionary.

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Recognition For a Life Lived Well:On May 31, 1952 W.W. Graves’ life's work was recognized at a banquet held in the St. Francis School Gymnasium. About 240 people attended including friends, farmers, businessmen, the President of the Kansas State Historical Society, college presidents, 3rd District Kansas Press Association executives, pressmen from across southeast Kansas, an Osage Indian Chief and a Catholic Bishop. There are few people, in our area, who have received the level of honor that this group bestowed on Mr. Graves that evening. But there are likely few Americans who have received the combined level of respect received from the Bishop and an Indian Nation that evening:

Bishop Mark K. Carroll, Bishop of Wichita, acting on behalf of Pope Pius XII, presented Graves with a Vatican Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory. The Knighthood is the highest honor achievable by a Catholic lay person. The scroll was awarded in recognition of his literary contributions to the Catholic Church. That included recording the work of the Osage Mission missionaries in service of the Osage people and settlers; and the Jesuit missionary work across the Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri frontier[3]. Other notable people who have received this award are Bob Hope and Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Graves was made an honorary Chief of the Osage Tribe. This was a very rare honor for a non-tribal person, especially a white person. The Osage presentation also proclaimed Graves as “Wy-La-Za-XaNe-Ka-Zhin" which was interpreted by his Osage brothers as “Mr. Man of the Journal”[4]. Both honors were in recognition of Graves’ friendship with the tribe and his efforts to record and tell the story of the Osages during their time in Kansas.

Less than two months later, on July 22, 1952, William Whites Graves collapsed and died of a heart attack at home in St. Paul. His obituary on the cover of the July 24, 1952 St. Paul Journal read: “Death took this communities’ most esteemed and honored citizen Tuesday evening.” Mr. Graves is also our most esteemed Knight [6].

Scroll of a Vatican Knighthood of St. Gregory the Great Presented to William Whites Graves, by Bishop Mark K. Carroll on May 31, 1952. Bishop Carroll presented the Knighthood on behalf of Pope Pius XII [7].

Notes and References:1. The Vatican is currently evaluating Father Michael J. McGivney for sainthood.

2. A LINK to the local field agent for The Knights of Columbus Insurance—John V. Schibi.

3. It is now known that in addition to the missionary work in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, the Osage Mission Jesuit work alsoextended into Arkansas and Colorado.

The Kansas Knights of Columbus page is linked HERE. This page has a lot of information about organization, procedures and forms that can be used to conduct business with the Kansas State Council.

6. For more information on the life and times of W.W. Graves, visit this SITE. There is also a display on the life and times of Mr. Graves in the Graves Memorial Public Library, St. Paul, Kansas.​7. W.W. Graves' Vatican scroll is on file with the Osage Mission - Neosho County Historical Society.

​This is the community website for the St. Francis de Hieronymo and St. Ambrose Catholic Churches in Neosho County, Kansas. Both churches are located in the center of the historic nine-county southeast Kansas area. We share one of the richest Catholic Heritages in Southern Kansas and the Four-State Region. For more information about our churches, history, organizations or programs browse our site including its links.